Sophomore Chane Behanan is one of three U of L underclassmen coach Rick Pitino says should apply for evaluation for the NBA draft.

University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino wants sophomore Chane Behanan and juniors Gorgui Dieng and Russ Smith to declare for the NBA draft after the season so they can be evaluated.

He doesn't know how much good it will do with the NCAA shortening the period for players to make their decisions to stay or go. This year the deadline is April 16.

Atlantic Coast Conference coaches were behind the push to get players to commit sooner in order to give the coaches time to find late spring recruits to refill rosters decimated by early entrants.

"The way the rules are written, they're basically saying to the kids, 'We're just looking at the universities, we're not looking after you,' " Pitino said.

The NBA doesn't require underclassmen to declare for the draft until April 28. Last season Kentucky coach John Calipari told his players simply to use the NBA's date for their decisions.

Players are allowed a window of April 8-16 to work out for NBA teams, but they aren't allowed to miss any class time. Pitino said that's not enough time to get a true evaluation.

"How do you make a mature decision? You're going to make a lot of bad decisions," he said. "? It's very easy to advise a Gorgui Dieng, but at that point it'd be very difficult to advise a Chane Behanan and Russ Smith. Say the pros don't want to work those two guys out at all."

When asked about entering the draft, Smith and Behanan both said they want to fulfill a dream of playing in the league, but they want to make the best decision possible.

"As of right now, I do have intentions on coming back and finishing my senior year," Smith said. "But at the end of the day, if it's the right opportunity to go to move forward, then I'll have to do it, and Coach will be right there in my corner to help me."